Taking care of business

The lace I ordered for the wedding dress makeover came in the mail the other day and I have started to hand stitch it on (in place of the large ruffle along the bottom.)  It is coming together quite nicely.

Here is a glimpse of one of the wedding quilts that I'm working on.  It's all pieced and most of the quilting is done.  The fabric is mostly Sand and Surf by Marcus Brothers with a few additional coordinating fabrics.

After reading on so many blogs about the floods in Queensland and the opportunities to help, I decided to join Retro Mummy in making 12 1/2" unfinished blocks.  The block I decided to make is a simple scrappy block.  Make a 9 patch using 2 1/2" squares.  Then add 1 1/2" border on all sides.  

Sew more 2 1/2 " blocks together and sew around the  block. Easy peasy.  A great scrap buster too!  Won't you join me?

Here are a few of the projects that I'm participating in.  

First is a BOM stitchery quilt from Little Miss Shabby.  The birdie stitchery is too cute to resist! Just trying to decide what fabric to use. I'm in love with the Sunkissed fabric but...

 I'm also thinking of following along with the Bloggers' Block-A-Palooza Waiting for Spring over at quilt dad.  Did I mention that I am in love with Moda's Sunkissed by Sweetwater?  Both of these quilts use Sunkissed but I'm not sure if I want to use it for both.  Just have to wait to find out.  

So in order for me to find the JOY in these projects, I'll just have to follow along at my own pace. 

No pressure.     

P.S. This Friday is FNSI.  Go on over to Handmade by Heidi to sign up. Won't you join the fun!

Extreme Wedding Dress Makeover

          ...is what I've been working on.  It is my girlfriend's dress from her first marriage.  Her daughter, which just so happens to be my daughters best friend, is getting married and wants to wear her mom's dress.  

It was extremely outdated and I don't mean vintage which is now rather popular.  

This dress had lots of ruffles. 

Like....all around the bottom...more than 5 yards of ruffle.

And...all along the bodice...front and back...more ruffles...and a high, lace neck and long sleeves with lace cuffs.

It is definitely from the 70's.  

So here is a sneak peek of the dress now.  It isn't finished. 

The wedding isn't until May so I can't reveal it all yet.

Gone are the long sleeves, high neck and all the ruffles.  

I saved the lace from the neck and inserted into the bodice [a nice sentimental touch.] 

Stay tuned for more of the extreme makeover!

On the quilting front.  

This weekend my DH and I went for a walk in the woods [looking for sticks...but that's another story.

On driving home, I caught glimpse of a fence that I have driven past quite often. This time it caught my attention as a quilt design.  The fence is located in an area where it is hard to take a picture of it.  I found another one that is similar.  

   

The fence that inspired me didn't have the extras on the top and you could see the cross bar on the bottom [new snow is covering this one.]  

When we got home I got some grid paper and my colored pencils out and drew my idea.   

Here is what it looks like on paper...

I used Kona cotton solids in 7 different colors and charcoal for the background/fence color.  

I really like how this came together...I think I will use the charcoal for the backing too...probably a pieced back with some pieces of each color.  

What do you think?